Family and Home Archives

Karate-Chopping Mom

If there’s one resource that my mother could have used, it would have been Dr. Dobson’s book Parenting Isn’t For Cowards. After all, as a child there were times when I was quite the handful. Case in point.

As a six year old, I tagged along with my mom whenever she went grocery shopping. You see, I always got to pick out a toy. If I didn’t get one, I’d throw a full-body tantrum – the kind of fit that turned the heads of other moms.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, parenting January 31, 2008 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

A Father’s Heart

Life is short. It’s longer for some, shorter for others.

Even to live to be 120, in the grand scheme of things – specifically, in view of eternity – life is still short. Which is probably why Moses prayed, “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” None of us knows how long we have to live. Moses knew that making the most of our moments on earth comes from gaining God’s perspective on what’s really important.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, parenting January 29, 2008 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Chicken and the Egg

Let me tell you about an unusual conversation I had the other day. I was speaking with a friend who had left behind a thriving career in order to gain some much needed perspective on his life and family. During his season of reflection he wanted to do something radical. Much to his wife’s surprise – and his children’s glee – he set out to pursue his childhood dream of raising chickens.

Chickens? Rhode Island Reds to be exact.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith January 23, 2008 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Go for the Gold

How are you doing with your New Year’s resolutions? If you’re like many, you might have purchased a treadmill with an eye on walking more this year. Perhaps it was a membership at the YMCA or a health club, the purchase of a stationary bicycle, or simply buying a new pair of walking shoes to encourage a regular cardiovascular routine.

Perhaps you cut up the credit cards in an effort to dig yourself out of debt.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: events, faith, family January 18, 2008 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Applause of Heaven

The battle over who gets to compete for the coveted Super Bowl XLII ring comes down to how the Patriots, the Packers, the Chargers, and the Giants perform in the final playoff round. Personally, I had been pulling for the Colts to do a repeat performance of last season. After all, head coach Tony Dungy is such a class act, both on and off the field. He’s one of the best role models to come along in a long time.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, events, pop culture January 16, 2008 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

God Still Changes Lives

If there’s one thing that I can almost guarantee in 2008, it’s that you and I will encounter struggles in our marriage or family life. This is, after all, a fallen world. Things break. Relationships become strained. Misunderstandings happen. Sickness happens. Life gets messy. Even Jesus as He walked on this earth refused to sugar coat reality. He said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33b).

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, relationships January 9, 2008 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Name That Christmas Carol – #1

Here’s a fun group activity a friend sent to me that you might enjoy using with the family over the Christmas holiday. The goal is to see who can identify the real song title from this list of twenty-one hints. You could divide the guests or family members into two teams or simply make it every person for him or her self. Maybe sweeten the pot with a White Elephant gift for the person or team who gets the most correct answers.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, events, technology December 22, 2007 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Doctor’s Order: No PlayStation

Jean and I were at a birthday party last week. While we dined with the adults, the boys were in another room with their peers enjoying kid-friendly food and games. One of the after dinner activities for the children was playing with a Wii (pronounced “We”). That’s the hot new video game console offered by Nintendo. As I learned, what sets Wii apart from other video games is a wireless controller that senses motion. This allows the gamers’ hand movements to interact with the on-screen action.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, family, kids, parenting, pop culture December 21, 2007 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Eating Humble Pie

Last year my family was living in a community just around the corner from Focus on the Family. I remember one particular evening Jean needed to go shopping after dinner. I offered to hang out with the boys while she ran errands. I should point out it was already dark by the time Jean backed the minivan out of the driveway . . . right into our neighbor’s car across the street.

Jean wasn’t distracted or in a hurry.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, marriage, wife December 4, 2007 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Pastor to Pastor Hotline

There are five unsung heroes at Focus on the Family whom I’d like to extend a hardy “Well done!” These men are the backbone behind the Pastoral Care Hotline. Day after day, Roger Charman, John Barner, George Stahnke, Ralph Kelly, and Alex Person field phone calls from pastors who are in crisis. They don’t seek the limelight, just an opportunity to bear the burdens fellow pastors carry.

Here are three short examples of the kind of situations these men address.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: pastors December 3, 2007 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura